


penumbra

by glitzyena



Category: IZONE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, F/F, Forbidden Love, High School, Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, Magic, Moon, Running Away, Swimming Pools, Witchcraft, Witches, for like a tiny second, it’s because of the time frame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitzyena/pseuds/glitzyena
Summary: Chaewon, as far as Yena knows, has the tongue of the devil. It's not some euphemism for how good of a kisser she is, (although such a skill is something Yena is not going to deny) Chaewon’s tongue quite literally is of the devil himself.Or, Chaewon is a witch, and when your witch girlfriend asks (tells) you to run away with her, you do what you’re told.
Relationships: Choi Yena/Kim Chaewon (IZONE)
Kudos: 59





	penumbra

**Author's Note:**

> helloooo back with more ssamyen because im a simp whoops. i wrote like a small bit of this ages and ages ago, and got the urge to finish it today, so here we are! chaewon magic girlfriend because sigh don’t we all need one of those.  
> 
> 
> [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/glitzyena)  
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/glitzyena)

Chaewon, as far as Yena knows, has the tongue of the devil.

It's not some euphemism for how good of a kisser she is, (although such a skill is something Yena is not going to deny) Chaewon’s tongue quite literally is of the devil himself. It can curl around vowels and consonants that Yena is almost sure she’s never heard before, creating weird and wonderful sounds that have her starry eyed. 

Ever since meeting Chaewon for the first time, Yena can't fathom how witches could ever be seen as a bad thing. Sure, she supposes it's the usual ordeal of people being afraid of what they can't understand, of being insecure that there are people out there more powerful than them, but if they opened their fucking eyes they'd realise all of the wonders they're missing out on. 

The finding out of witches had been something rather new, and while many deem it as science that just isn’t understood yet, Yena knows that there’s simply no logical explanation for someone like Chaewon. They’re still something that people have to understand, or comprehend, and more often than not those who possess such abilities choose to keep them quiet. Chaewon, had chosen to keep them quiet, Yena only ever figuring out the day she’d left her bag in the changing rooms, dashing back inside to see the quiet girl from one of the other classes, one arm through her shirt and eyes wide in shock, the thick, dark marks engrained in her flesh blatant proof of her powers.

Chaewon had insisted that Yena stay right by her at all times, after the incident, even though they hardly even knew each other, out of fear that she might tell someone. Yena had only complied because she was afraid of what Chaewon could do to her, so she kept her mouth shut and let the younger girl follow her around the school. With them spending so much time with one another, it was only natural they’d grow to learn more about one another, for Yena to see the wonders of Chaewon’s magic, for Chaewon to be able to trust her enough to show it to her.

It had been... frightening, the entire situation. Yena had often lain awake at night, terrified, because of these new experiences. Witches were bad, that was just always the way it had been, from history right up until now. Witches did terrible, unspeakable things, were hedonistic creatures that fed on the minds of young, unsuspecting students just like her.

But Chaewon... Chaewon is sweet. She’s kind and she’s beautiful and she’s thoughtful and she’s so many other things that she just leaves Yena breathless at the thought of her.

Perhaps that’s even more terrifying.

Chaewon is a girl.

And as a girl herself, Chaewon isn’t supposed to make Yena breathless. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. But Yena will never forget it.

In the all-girls boarding school they attend together, uncompromising and unforgiving, Yena had found her way into Chaewon’s dorm in the middle of the night. Anything could’ve happened if she were to be caught; detention, suspension, expulsion, anything.

She remembers sitting on Chaewon’s bed, the room dead quiet, practically no space between them and her heart thundering in her chest. Milky wisps of moonlight filtered in between the gaps in the blinds, painting Chaewon’s skin a translucent white. Yena’s fists were on her lap, nails cutting into her palms with the sheer effort it was taking her to not reach out, to run her hands through Chaewon’s hair, to smooth them over her skin. She was looking down at them, trying so desperately hard not to look at her. She could feel Chaewon’s gaze practically piercing into her, but knew that if she were to look up she wouldn’t be able to look away.

“Yena,”

Chaewon’s voice had sounded like cotton, airy and light and practically irresistible. Perhaps a little unsure, too, like this was just as much of a new experience for her.

Yena didn’t know if Chaewon had ever bewitched her. Or if she’d been bewitched this entire time. She decided then and there that she didn’t particularly care.

She’d kissed her, then and there, in the quiet of the night and plunged in the darkness, never able to get enough of the sensation of the girl’s lips on hers, of the feeling of her touch red-hot against her skin. She’d kissed her until her lungs gave out, until all her blood rushed to her lips, only to grab Chaewon by the collar of her shirt and tug her back in again. She’d kissed her until the desperation in the base of her throat had only been somewhat quelled, still leaving room for more. They’d taken their time, they’d been in no rush, the seemingly endless hours of the night completely to themselves, to share with no one. Yena had taken her time to appreciate the way the moonlight stained Chaewon’s skin, pressing her lips to where the muted colours left her cool, touch turning the skin hot, similar to the short, sharp breaths that left Chaewon’s lips. She kissed her until the sun had come up, and Yena had to deftly sneak back into her own dorm before they were called for breakfast, eyes lidded and lips a little tingly.

Ever since then... things have never been the same between them. They’re in their final year, the months seeming to crawl by, but every chance Yena gets to be with Chaewon, she grabs with both hands and refuses to let go.

Sometimes, with all the time she spends with Chaewon, she forgets just how repulsed people actually are with witches, even just the idea of them. Chaewon’s often told her gory, gruesome stories of things that have happened to witches who have been found out, but strangely enough, Yena doesn’t think Chaewon particularly cares. Yena hopes it’s because she knows she’s got the capability to not allow anything to stand in her path.

Yena herself knows she would receive an equally drastic form of punishment just for loving Chaewon anyways, and vice versa. Yena likes to think of it as playing with fire; she knows that at some point she’s going to get burned, that her parents and peers are going to find her revolting, because not only is she in love with a girl, she’s in love with a bastard child with the tongue of the devil. At some point, she’s going to get burned, but right now the heat of the fire warms her from the inside so nicely, and she’s going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Hence when Chaewon asks her, or tells her, really, with that devil tongue of hers, Yena really can't do anything other than comply. 

"Run away with me," 

Yena looks up from the book splayed on her lap from where she’s sat on Chaewon's bed. There's a comforting aroma wafting around the room, as there usually is, something citrusy - orange, perhaps - paired with cinnamon and the scent of smoked firewood. Chaewon's place is a mess, one of the qualities Yena loves the most about her, spellbooks often tossed around the place, jars of ink teetering off the edge of her desk, above where her feathered quills have slowly fluttered to the ground. Trinkets scattered about the place that she always has to kick back underneath her bed before she leaves for classes in the morning. It's a sight Yena has grown accustomed to, along with Chaewon murmuring incantations out of one of her books, and random, minuscule explosions popping up in front of her when she makes a mistake. It's normal now, Chaewon rubbing random herbs and creams into Yena's skin if she even so much as mentions a slight pain or itch on her body, normal for Chaewon to make her drink her peculiar concoctions and elixirs. It's nothing out of the ordinary for Chaewon to hurriedly put a crystal around her neck, mumbling with bright red cheeks about how it'll keep her safe, or something like that.

Chaewon is peculiar, wonderous, clumsy, mystifyingly delightful, and, above all, a hopeless romantic.

So when Chaewon asks her to run away with her, Yena doesn't even give it a second thought. Even if it’s just for one night.

Obviously, locked away in the grounds of the school, running away doesn’t mean they can go very far, but it doesn’t take away from the excitement of it all. It's deep into the night when she’s being led blindly thought she dark, the only sense of familiarity Yena has being Chaewon's hand clasped in her own. Chaewon tugs her through the winding, inky blackness, her laughter seeming to reverberate all around them, finding hospitality in Yena's ears where she cherishes the light sound. Chaewon had made her promise to keep her eyes closed, had told her with airy giggles bubbling from her lips, so Yena really couldn't say no. She has little to no idea about where they are, trusting in Chaewon's promise to keep her to safe. Even though Chaewon has her back to her, she'd know if Yena were to open her eyes anyway, so she doesn't really see the point when she knows and trusts that Chaewon would never let anything bad happen to either of them. 

Chaewon's palm is a little warmer than what Yena would consider average, and she’s sure that it’s nothing accidental. 

The grounds on which their school is built are massive, and Yena’s never really had a great sense of direction, so it’s near impossible for her to tell where Chaewon’s leading her. They're inside, Yena knows that much, simply because they had been outside earlier and she remembers just how cold she'd been. It's also obvious in the way that she can hear the echo of her footsteps from where they lightly tread on what Yena assumes to be a tiled floor, the faint dripping sound of water coming from somewhere far off. The scent of something sharp tickles at Yena's nostrils, although she isn't quite able to pinpoint exactly what it is. 

"Chae..." she whispers in no particular direction, sure that Chaewon is somewhere in front of her. 

Chaewon hums airily as a response, the sound seeming to come from all around her.

"Where are we going?" 

She can hear the smile in Chaewon's voice, can feel as she begins to smooth her thumb over her knuckles in languid circles. "Take a guess," her voice sounds like it’s been slathered in honey, rich and overwhelmingly sweet.

Yena draws her lips together into a pout, not too sure if Chaewon's facing her or not, but knowing that if she is that it might just have the smallest of impacts on her. She hears Chaewon push open a door, the amplified squeaking sound in the still quiet enough to make Yena cringe. If anything their footsteps only grow louder, their echoes lasting longer, and Yena guesses that Chaewon's led her into a larger room. 

That's when the scent hits her hard. 

Its instantly recognisable aroma burns like hot iron in her nostrils, making her scrunch up her nose in distaste. She feels Chaewon draw her closer, clumsily leaning into her chest and breathing in her scent to block everything else out. "Is that... chlorine?"

"Shh," Chaewon hushes her, Yena feeling a finger being pressed to her lips, which she presses a light kiss to almost as an instinct. "Listen,"

So Yena listens. 

It's deathly quiet, almost hauntingly so, wherever they are, Yena sure that she’s able to hear Chaewon's heartbeat over the soft sounds of her breath. She strains her ears a little more, because she knows that that's not what Chaewon meant.

And that's when she hears the water.

It's not very loud, a soft, gentle flow that sounds more like a large, shifting body rather than just intermittent drips. "Chaewon, are we... at the pool?"

Chaewon lets go of her hand, allowing it to fall limp by her side, but Yena can feel her presence behind her when the witch props her chin on her shoulder. "You can open your eyes now," she whispers, her breath against Yena's ear making her shudder. But, she complies with what she’s told, slowly allowing her eyelids to flutter open. They're a little heavy, considering the time, but she manages to peel them open after blinking a couple times.

There's not much to behold, considering the fact that it's pitch black inside, all of the lighting shut off for the night. Although, in the gentle way the water shifts, she can just about catch the way the diluted moonlight from the windows is caught on the ridges of minuscule ripples, ebbing towards the edges only to fall victim to the filters. That, and also that she’s been here countless times already, at the school pool, to support classmates and for the occasional self indulgent dip. They're right at the edge, so close that if Yena were to take another step forward he'd fall right in.

It dawns on her that she’s never gone swimming with Chaewon before, in all of the two years that they've been going out. She knows that it's just not an option for Chaewon - the markings and spells swirled into her skin a blatant tell tale of her abilities. 

"We've never gone swimming before. Not together at least," Chaewon breathes into her ear, tucking Yena's hair behind her it before wrapping her arms around her waist from her position behind her. "Thought we might as well change that," 

It's on the tip of Yena's tongue to say the obvious; that it's cold, that it's dark, but she knows better than to expect the norm now. Chaewon removes an arm from Yena's waist, holding it up in front of them, and with a noise cutting through the silence like a knife through butter, Chaewon snaps her fingers.

The pool lights up with a silvery, pearlescent sheen, like it had been sprinkled with electric fairy dust, casting wisps of warm light around the room, shifting reflections of the water's ripples writhing restlessly on the walls. Chaewon moves to stand next to her, the cool light being casted onto her face a stark contrast to the dark of the night, creating sharp shadows and angles on her face. Chaewon's eyes have always been unnatural, a bright silver when she isn't wearing contacts, like a ring of mercury had been poured into her iris, but now that silver becomes more of a pale blue in the mystical light. 

"Fuck," Yena breathes, her eyes scanning the place with a childlike wonder. Chaewon's abilities never fail to have her enchanted, something as simple as lighting up a pool in the dead of night enough to steal the breath right out of her lungs. "It's so pretty, Chaewon," rays of light seem to breach the surface before diving back in again, like minuscule spotlights being whirled around before curtain call, and it's all just so so magical that Yena's falling in love all over again.

"I know," Chaewon sounds smug. "You'll be a doll and check the temperature for me, won't you?" she croons, and Yena looks back at her in confusion. 

"Wha-"

_Splash_.

Yena doesn't know what's happening until she feels the bubbles erupting around her, feels the lukewarm water seep into her clothes.

Chaewon had pushed her in.

Yena resurfaces, gasping in a breath and pushing her hair back from her face, Chaewon's laughter breaking on her ears like a gust of fresh air. The girl is laughing from her position at the edge, midnight black hair falling in front of her crescent moon eyes as she hugs her stomach, lips stretched wide into a grin, and it's then and there that Yena decides that she’s never seen someone more beautiful.

It makes perfect sense, really. There's no way any human being could ever be this radiant.

"Fuck, your face!" Chaewon manages through breathless giggles. "You were so shocked, I can't-" she cuts herself off, and she frowns down at Yena when she moves, looking tentative. "What're you...?"

Yena shakes her hair out of her eyes, ruffling it with her fingers before reaching behind her up over her head and tugging at the collar of her jumper. 

Chaewon glares, hands on her hips and lips pouty. "Don't you dare,"

Yena smirks to herself, tugging her saturated jumper over her head, water droplets scattering like glass beads through the air with the sharp motion. She’s wearing a shirt underneath, of course she is, it’s fucking cold outside, but Chaewon clearly hadn’t known that. Seeing the shock, and then the glare on her features totally warrants Yena’s revenge, in her opinion.

Chaewon gives her an unimpressed look. "That's just plain unfair," 

Yena slowly moves forward, using her hands to push her along beneath the water's surface.

Chaewon's expression turns quizzical. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yena comes to the pool's edge, still silent, and brings her gaze up to look at her. She sees Chaewon hesitate, sees her eyes flit downwards for a fraction of a second before returning to her face. "Choi Yena, I swear to God if you-"

Yena grins at her, reaching up and rapidly wrapping her dripping jumper around Chaewon's waist, barely giving the other girl enough time to let out a surprised screech before she comes crashing down into the lukewarm water. She resurfaces spluttering, looking appalled at the fact that she had fallen victim to what she had pulled on Yena just moments ago. She ruffles her hair, silver dust tumbling from the roots, then she rubs furiously at her nose before opening her mouth, ready to go off on a tangent.

But Yena kisses her before she does. 

Not because she doesn't enjoy how adorable Chaewon gets when she’s mad, but, well, she’s said it before. Chaewon has the tongue of the devil.

And this time, it's in every sense of the word.

Yena kisses Chaewon until Chaewon tugs her under, their movements slowed and spontaneously sensual beneath the water's surface. Chaewon's hands are warm where they cup the back of her neck, cradle her jaw, and Yena's arms curl around her waist in a moment so familiar it's practically a second nature. The tips of her fingers slip past the hem of her shirt, tracing the irregularities of her skin where the spells lie thick. 

Somewhere in the back of Yena's mind, she can hear Chaewon's voice. She’s not sure where from, and it's not really all that clear, but the words come together in her mind in some shape or form that she’s not even going to attempt to understand. _Open your eyes._

So Yena does just that.

She peels her eyelids open, bracing herself for the burning sensation of the chlorine, but it never comes. She can see clear as day, no blurriness in sight, and she has to hold back a gasp. The water shines with a brilliance she’s unable to put into words, tinted with those same hues of silver and icy blue like handfuls of diamonds had been tossed into the already gleaming depths. Chaewon, though, shines the brightest, smile so wide that it almost seems as though it'll split her face, black strands of hair wafting around her face in a way that can only be described as heavenly. 

And simply because Yena loves her beyond comprehension, she kisses her again. 

She keeps kissing Chaewon, keeps running her hands through her hair, keeps smoothing her hands over her skin until the bright beam of the security guard's flashlight cuts through the darkness, until they clamber out of the pool, dripping wet with Yena's jumper still afloat.

Chaewon's laughter echoes through the corridor, silver dust seeming to hang thick in the air around them as they run, their hands clasped tightly together as they run away to somewhere new.

To somewhere where they can pretend that no one knows their names, where no one knows where to find them.   
  


The flame flickering on the tip of Chaewon’s finger is small, providing only a small amount of heat, but the witch seems to be finding some sort of amusement in it, so Yena doesn’t ask any more of her. To be quite frank about it, she’s fucking freezing, huddled next to Chaewon from where they’re sitting on the strip of grass behind the main school building, hidden from sight by the sports centre. Through the gap in between the two buildings, Yena can look out from the cliff on which the grounds are situated, and out to sea. The moon is waning, only a sliver of silver in the sky, the same hue as Chaewon’s eyes, and it’s light gets trapped in the foamy ridges of the waves in the same way it did back in the pool.

Light water droplets still cling to Yena’s skin, her hair soaked through, shivering.

“Oh,” Chaewon seems to come to her senses, the flame at the tip of her finger extinguishing itself as she turns to Yena. “I forgot that you- oh gosh, I’m really so sorry,” she wraps her arms around Yena, and she instantly starts to feel warmer, shaking her head insistently.

“No no, it’s fine,” she laughs when Chaewon gives her a squeeze, reaching out and stroking the girl’s hair, which is dry, naturally. Or, not so naturally, rather.

“You should’ve brought your jumper with you,” Chaewon huffs, the words spoken into Yena’s shoulder. “You’re frozen,”

“It was saturated, I forgot about it anyways,”

“I could’ve dried it for you,”

“You’ll just have to warm me up yourself,”

Chaewon looks up at her, lips drawn together. “Did you mean for that to sound as suggestive as it did?” She asks, arching a brow.

Yena tilts her head. “To be honest? No. But I’m not taking it back,”

Chaewon shuffles that but closer to her, uses her pointer finger to gently guide Yena’s chin so that she’s not looking at anywhere but her. Chaewon’s gaze lingers purposefully on her lips, something stuttering inside Yena’s stomach at the sight. She’s even more stunning up close, Chaewon, and even after all this time Yena still struggles to keep her nerves in check whenever she feels Chaewon’s breath breaking on her face.

The same finger that Chaewon had beneath her chin smoothes over her skin, coming to a stop to rest on Yena’s lower lip, Yena letting her lips part just slightly as a natural response.

Something in Chaewon’s eyes has gone darker, like the penumbra on the moon. She barely speaks above a whisper. “Last chance to take it back,”

Yena swallows thickly, even just the faint touch that Chaewon has on her now on the brink of driving her insane. “I think I’m good,”

Gently, Chaewon’s fingertips drift from Yena’s lips to the side of her face, cradling her jaw, and her eyes shift back up so that their gazes are locked. Yena’s sure she’s only doing it to build up the anticipation, only doing it to make her grow restless, but that shadow in her iris, that sliver of darkness, keeps her right in place.

Maybe Chaewon has her bewitched. Maybe Yena doesn’t really care.

Chaewon kisses her, beneath the cool moonlight, and Yena keeps her eyes open the entire time. Just to drink in the sight of how nice she looks doused in the icy blue tones of the night, how the hues in her iris shift and alter in accordance with how the moon seems to feel.

She smiles to herself, against Chaewon’s lips.

Tongue of the devil.

She isn’t all too sure whether that’s actually true or not, but, it does seem quite fitting.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so so much for reading!! if you enjoyed, kudos and comments are appreciated as usual, orrrr if you’d prefer you can drop me smth in my [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/glitzyena) or yell with me over yena on [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/glitzyena)  
> because it’s literally all i’m good for :’)  
> until next time! <3


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